World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3: New Info on Old Gods

World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 released today! This third volume spans the Third War through Cataclysm, connecting many loose plot threads and revealing new lore. \r\rIt's available to purchase on Amazon for $27.59 as well as the First and Second volumes.\r\rIn this preview, we're highlighting some of the new information revealed about the Old Gods. Let us know in the comments what other types of lore details from Chronicles you'd like us to preview! Edit: we've previewed what factions get credit for which dungeons and raids.\r\r\r\rMotivations of the Old Gods\rEarly in the novel, we learn that the Old Gods created the Infinite Dragonflight as well as corrupted the Emerald Dream. While this information is not new, we also learned that the Old Gods were responsible for many smaller threats in classic WoW, such as quilboar, kobold, and centaurs. The Old Gods were responsible for creating a feeling of chaos everywhere as well as inciting conflict between the factions.\r\rThis is further emphasized when Cho\u2019gall notes: \r\rHe also needed to keep the Old God safe from the Alliance and the Horde. By defeating C\u2019Thun, the two factions had proved that they were unstoppable when they put aside their differences and united.\r\rCho\u2019gall would not allow them to do so again.\r\rWe can\u2019t help but think of the rapidly-escalating faction conflict developing in Battle for Azeroth and how the Alliance and Horde focused on destroying each other perfectly fits into the plans of the Old Gods.\r\rCho\u2019gall\rCho\u2019gall\u2019s lore has been changed a bit due to the removal of Med'an, the son of Garona, from the story. World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 has retconned Med'an--he's just a "404" note in the index. As such, Garona's story follows the same major plot points as before but now reaches them in a different way.\r\rPreviously in the lore, Med'an faced off against Cho'gall at Ahn'Qiraj, defeating the ogre with the help of the Council of Tirisfal, newly-reformed Atiesh, Meryl, and Aegwynn. The ogre was buried in rubble and then suddenly resurfaced in Cataclysm, where he served as the final boss of Bastion of Twilight.\r\rHowever in Chronicle, Cho'gall has a more interesting story. He sets out on a quest to awaken the Old Gods, which is sidetracked at first by Garona's successful attempts to assassinate many of his followers. After luring and entrapping Garona, Cho'gall once again focuses on his mission, making his way to Ahn'Qiraj and breaking C'Thun's chains through a powerful ritual. C'Thun was now free to awaken the dormant silithid and prepare for war, events which led to the Opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj and the 40-player raid.\r\rInstead of being buried in a pile of rubble, Cho'gall now sets out to Northrend during the events of Burning Crusade. He loosens the bonds of Yogg-Saron, providing the Old God with greatly-strengthened powers. He then escalates the conflict between the Alliance and Horde, commanding Garona to attack Varian at a peace summit. This is similar to existing lore, but without details on Med'an's recapture by the Twilight Hammer cult. With no Med'an in this story, Garona pledged to work with Jaina and Aegwynn to learn more about the Twilight Hammer, instead of only providing information if she'd receive help saving her son.\r\r\r\rN\u2019Zoth\rIt\u2019s been hinted before that N\u2019Zoth played a role in Cataclysm and now in Chronicle we get confirmation that he was involved in a major way.\r\rShrouded in an ocean of fevered dreams, among the bones of nameless horrors, N'Zoth remained untouched by the blade of mortals. The Old God was certain that Azeroth's champions would eventually seek it out and try to overwhelm it as they had done to C'Thun and Yogg-Sarion.\r\rN'Zoth was not afraid, but it did sense that a window of opportunity was fast closing.\r\rN\u2019Zoth is confirmed to corrupt Deathwing, pouring his own dark energy into Deathwing and sending the Twilight Hammer to fuse elementium armor onto Deathwing to prevent his body from tearing apart.\r\rN'Zoth fed its own dark energy into Deathwing's heart, infusing the black Dragon Aspect with a power unlike any that he had ever known. This influx of strength made his form more unstable, and the magma that flowed through his veins threatened to erupt from his body and consume his entirely.\r\rN\u2019Zoth then called upon the Elemental Lords. Neptulon and Therazane eventually defied him, but Al'Akir and Ragnaros followed N'Zoth.\r\rBy unleashing Deathwing from Deepholm, he would tear a rift between the Elemental Plane and Azeroth, which would then allow the Elemental Lords access to Azeroth. Deathwing would also serve as a conduit for N'Zoth, coordinating attacks with the elementals and Twilight Hammer.\r\rDeathwing's motivation was to scour the world of the other Dragonflights and control Azeroth as his own, but secretly N'Zoth planned to dispose of Deathwing once the Black Empire was restored.\r\rWhen Deathwing broke free and rained destruction on the world, Stormwind was a notable target. We learn the goal was not to destroy the city, but instead to instill fear in the citizens so more would join the Twilight Hammer. \r\rThe Shattering empowered many Twilight Hammer members who had lived double lives, including Archbishop Benedictus. The Old Gods played upon his curiosity with shadow magic and disillusionment that the Light didn't save Arthas from corruption, invading his dreams with visions of the Hour of Twilight and freedom. He grew to believe that the Holy Light was tyrannical and that the Void was the natural state of the universe. By staying in charge of the church, he was able to convert many disillusioned priests to the Twilight Hammer.\r\rWhile not all of N'Zoth's plans were successful, he was counting on most to fail--only one had to work in order to usher in the Hour of Twilight.\r\rAs times grew desperate, the Dragon Aspects retrieved the Dragon Soul and planned to empower it at Wyrmrest Temple, which players experienced in-game as the L’Âme des dragons raid. Deathwing received word of this plan and amassed a formidable army, including Faceless Ones sent by N'Zoth. The Dragon Aspects were successful in driving Deathwing from the Temple, but N'Zoth countered by infusing Deathwing with a massive amount of power--so great that it broke Deathwing's body as molten tentacles poured forth.\r\rThe only way to defeat the empowered Deathwing was to turn the power of the Dragon Soul against him, requiring the Dragon Aspects to sacrifice their energy.\r\r\r\rQueen Azshara\rWith all the speculation surrounding Azshara as a boss in Battle for Azeroth and her involvement in the early story, it's interesting to learn that Queen Azshara is a servant of N'Zoth. Previously, we'd only received hints they were related via a Hearthstone blog during Whispers of the Old Gods.\r\rUnder his orders, she led the attack in Vashj’ir, unleashing her naga against the water elementals of Neptulon, to gain control of the world's seas. \r\rWe also get confirmation that the naga previously reached out to Illidan due to the will of the Old Gods, not because of shared loyalty or heritage with the Night Elves. The Old Gods wanted Illidan to succeed to destroy the Lich King and spark a new war on Azeroth.\r\rThe Old Gods had taken notice of Illidan. His hunger for power and his chaotic past intrigued them. His quest to destroy the Lich King could spark a new war on Azeroth, one that would likely envelop the undead, the world's nations, and the Legion. With that kind of turmoil consuming Azeroth, CHo'gall and his cultists could awaken the Old Gods relatively unopposed.\r\r\r\r\r\rWhat do you think of the new information about the Old Gods? Any surprises? Did you like the retcon to Cho'gall's story with Med'an out of the picture? It's been speculated for a while that N'Zoth was behind parts of Cataclysm so it's fun to learn more. \r\rLet us know what other types of lore from Chronicle you'd like us to cover!\r\r(Notes: there are Amazon affiliate links in this post, which provide a small kickback to Wowhead to help with site operations. Thank you to Blizzard for sending us an advance copy of this book.)

Commentaires

Commentaire de shefu

on 2018-03-27T09:27:40-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an? Or any other super hero we've had throughout WoW? Okay, maybe not all were super over powered, but he could have been introduced to the game in a more limited fashion.\r\rEither way, interesting stuff! Cheers!

Commentaire de Wishblade

on 2018-03-27T09:28:41-05:00

Sounds juicy! Good to hear the old bugger is messing around with everything as expected. XP

Commentaire de sikhjatt23

on 2018-03-27T09:31:20-05:00

I think it's kinda weird that medan is completely out of the picture now.

Commentaire de kaleestraza

on 2018-03-27T09:35:00-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an? Or any other super hero we've had throughout WoW? Okay, maybe not all were super over powered, but he could have been introduced to the game in a more limited fashion.\r\rEither way, interesting stuff! Cheers!\r\rTwo wrongs don't make a right. Yeah, let's absolutely cover the lore in garbage characters because somehow one established one makes it all okay. That will work out well...

Commentaire de Thiszo

on 2018-03-27T09:39:32-05:00

I'm glad there's no Med'an. One of the most underwhelming characters imo.

Commentaire de nonamegiven

on 2018-03-27T09:39:40-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an?\r\rThrall earned himself a pretty sizeable hatedom in Cataclysm for much the same reasons that Med'an did, so that's maybe not the best example to use.

Commentaire de Tinkerer

on 2018-03-27T09:40:57-05:00

I don't think I like Azshara being another Old God related baddie rather than just a horrible person. It's fine to have some villains that aren't related to some cosmic powers, y'know?

Commentaire de Tombsv

on 2018-03-27T09:48:44-05:00

I'm glad that N'zoth is turning out to be the smarter of the old gods. Brain over brawn! Sure, the other old gods call N'zoth the weakest. But it is clearly just really smart propaganda by N'Zoth! N'zoth plays the long game and we will soon be saved by it!

Commentaire de azahel

on 2018-03-27T10:01:02-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an? Or any other super hero we've had throughout WoW? Okay, maybe not all were super over powered, but he could have been introduced to the game in a more limited fashion.\r\rEither way, interesting stuff! Cheers!\r\rWe hate thrall for that same reason; but he was nowhere near to the atrocity that was 404 boy

Commentaire de shefu

on 2018-03-27T10:02:49-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an?

Thrall earned himself a pretty sizeable hatedom in Cataclysm for much the same reasons that Med'an did, so that's maybe not the best example to use.

Yes they did, the same "loud" community that mostly complains about everything else in the game. However just because they disliked Thrall in that expansion, doesn't mean that they were right. Majority of the player base never bother to comment on the game, they just play.

I personally didn't have an issue with either Med'an or Thrall in cata, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.

Commentaire de LyssaWoW

on 2018-03-27T10:02:52-05:00

I think it's kinda weird that medan is completely out of the picture now.

Not really, he's never even been mentioned in the games. The Chronicles are a series that is setting the World of Warcraft game lore straight with the future of the game as the goal, the cartoons and other stuff he was in have never had a real influence on game lore. Introducing someone with those kind of powers now when we're about to fight bigger and badder things would just seem like a bit of a cop out.

There's no real surprises overall. I think it was pretty widely established that N'zoth had a hand in the Cataclysm and Deathwing's story. The only confirmation is that it wasn't the Old Gods, just a singular Old God. They're obviously hinting heavily that N'zoth likes to stir up trouble between the races of Azeroth, that can't not be a coincidence now that we're going into the biggest every focus on faction wars.

Commentaire de FakeGodz

on 2018-03-27T10:09:06-05:00

The major problem with med'an is that, at the end of Warcraft 3, Medivh is supposed to be the last guardian, the power of a Guardian is too dangerous if it's fall to wrong hand... which actually happen... Medivh was controlled by Sargeras and opened the Dark Portal.\r \rMedivh was killed, Sargeras lose control of him, then Medivh resurrected, free from Sargeras control, he then decide that the power of a Guardian should stay with him, and maybe it'll lose in time.\r\rFrom Warcraft 3 ending : \rConfident that the world was safe for now, and that he had repaid a fraction of debt for his terrible sins, Medivh vanished, to take his place "amongst the legends of the past." His actions ensured Azeroth's survival and he found some redemption for his previous crimes.\r\rAnd then Blizzard decided to make med'an and made him into Guardian 2.0\r\rAt the end of the comic Med'an return the power and vanish, just like that\r\rWhat's the point of making this character then? It just screw up the overall story in Warcraft Universe.\r\rMedivh and Garona having child... wtf...\rMedivh trains Med'an to be Guardian... wtf...

Commentaire de Skildar

on 2018-03-27T10:14:01-05:00

Seriously? Now the Old Gods are even behind quilboar and centaur? Blizzard, not everything has to be tied to them. This is ridiculous. It is extremely poor writing to have every single villain now have the backstory "they were corrupted!"\r\rIn Maraudon you fight the daughter of Therazan who's has turned mad because of the loss of her husband with whom she created the centaurs. Her despair turned the centaurs against one another. And after cataclysm, we learn that the legion was using the centaur clans against each other. But wait Chronicle 3 now has information! Let's reckon the hell out of everything and Old gods are actually the bad guys that you knew they were!\r\rAzshara wanted more power and thus associated with Sargeras to be later saved by an ancient power? Let's make that the Old gods so we know for sure the only acceptable solution to this dire problem is to kill the queen!\r\rFor the first time I think I'm done with this universe and will go back to reading some real fantasy in which the writers don't *!@# over the work of their colleagues, past or present, to suit their own fetishes.

Commentaire de Nachoslayer

on 2018-03-27T10:21:28-05:00

Don't know how I feel about this. I liked it a lot more when every villain was their own thing instead of just being a part of the old god scheme. It seems the meme "an old god did it!" is becoming canon.

Not only that, but there isn't much depth to their character and motives. Sargeras, Illidan (anti-hero, I know, but frig that) and Arthas each had their own motive and story that led them to who they would be as a character. They had years of character growth to them. They might not be perfect, but there was attention being put into their story.

Old gods are really just evil and their character is just that. They are cool as mysterious entities, but honestly that is slowly being taken away from them. They also seem to be the cause of every single tidbit now which is a bit over kill. A villain can be their own thing and doesn't need to be corrupted or influenced by the old gods to be evil. I find it is far more interesting for them to develop into that role themselves.

Every villain is just connected to the void now and old gods is what caused it. I don't think this is great story telling and I honestly find it a much worse version of the old lore. Of course this is just my opinion and feel free to disagree.

Commentaire de Pwn79

on 2018-03-27T10:21:44-05:00

Seriously? Now the Old Gods are even behind quilboar and centaur? Blizzard, not everything has to be tied to them. This is ridiculous. It is extremely poor writing to have every single villain now have the backstory "they were corrupted!"\r\rIn Maraudon you fight the daughter of Therazan who's has turned mad because of the loss of her husband with whom she created the centaurs. Her despair turned the centaurs against one another. And after cataclysm, we learn that the legion was using the centaur clans against each other. But wait Chronicle 3 now has information! Let's reckon the hell out of everything and Old gods are actually the bad guys that you knew they were!\r\rAzshara wanted more power and thus associated with Sargeras to be later saved by an ancient power? Let's make that the Old gods so we know for sure the only acceptable solution to this dire problem is to kill the queen!\r\rFor the first time I think I'm done with this universe and will go back to reading some real fantasy in which the writers don't *!@# over the work of their colleagues, past or present, to suit their own fetishes.\r\rGotta love people whining, So Old gods, servants of the Void lords were sent on a quest to corrupt Azeroth, imprisoned and slowly breaking free, you don't expect them to pull the strings on major events to ensure their escape and reach their goal? just for a friendly reminder Void Lords > Burning Legion > Petty quarrels, If you add to the mix their ability to Mind Control , it is totally aceptable and it makes sense, sadly some people expect Blizzard to write the story according to their personal delusional ideas :P

Commentaire de Thmar

on 2018-03-27T10:31:20-05:00

I'm pretty sad that nagas followed Illidan due to the will of the Old Gods. I've always dreamed of playing a naga, but it seems that they will stay badies forever, now...

Commentaire de lambda34

on 2018-03-27T10:39:53-05:00

i liked almost everything but the part that the naga reached for illidan because of old gods influence. i mean, it seems kinda odd that lady vashj was so fervently loyal to him, to the point to ask for forgiveness to him on her dying moments instead of profess something about her queen azshara, just because "old gods wanted illidan to destroy the lich king".\r\rand even after that, the scourge is gone, why are the nagas of vashj still loyal to the illidari? just because "old gods wanted illidan to destroy sargeras and the burning legion"? meh, to me it was more interesting when the naga had other alliances and connections of their own (like the fel-naga allied to the legion on the broken shore). besides it kinda undermined the possibility of naga as a playable race in the future.

Commentaire de Silmafarion

on 2018-03-27T10:40:06-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an? Or any other super hero we've had throughout WoW? Okay, maybe not all were super over powered, but he could have been introduced to the game in a more limited fashion.

Because Med'an was World-Shaman Thrall on steroids. He was half-human, quarter-orc, and quarter-draenei. He could wield the elements, holy magic, and the arcane. And on top of that, he was the Guardian and Medivh's son.

It's like Blizzard snatched him out of a bad fanfic. Glad to see he got scrapped from the lore.

Commentaire de Skrauhg

on 2018-03-27T10:44:32-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an? Or any other super hero we've had throughout WoW? Okay, maybe not all were super over powered, but he could have been introduced to the game in a more limited fashion.\r\rBecause Med'an was World-Shaman Thrall on steroids. He was half-human, quarter-orc, and quarter-draenei. He could wield the elements, holy magic, and the arcane. And on top of that, he was the Guardian and Medivh's son.\r\rIt's like Blizzard snatched him out of a bad fanfic.\r\rHe was not the Guardian after they stated the events of the comics still occurred, but he simply didn't get his power boost. Holy magic he had not yet learned, and due to the events of WotLK, I doubt Maraad had time to teach him.

Commentaire de Spectrence

on 2018-03-27T10:54:10-05:00

personally I don't like these overly large god-like "big bad" story lines. Azshara was a pretty solid villian as is. Making her an old god servant...maybe it's just me, but it feels it cheapens the character. Also confuses me that It had her send naga to help illidan take out arthas? why? having the undead overwhelm the planet would have fit into whole "destroy all life" thing. Sure, being corpses does make the undead immune to the old god whispers but wasn't that their end goal anyways? I guess I don't understand the motivations of the old gods. It's like the fight between them and the burning legion. void lords wanted to destroy all life for entropic reasons and sent out the old gods to do so. sargeras freaked out and proceeded to stop the void by...ending all life to put the universe in a cold dead state? you'd think the void guys would just sit back and laugh "oh no, sargeras, please don't do that!"

I don't know, I just feel like blizzard tends to drop the ball on these grand scale story lines. they do so well with the smaller scale ones. Even the expansions people didn't like as much (cata and wod seemingly being the two big ones), the smaller scale story lines in individual zones were so very fleshed out and well done in comparison. Personally, I liked the small zone-centric stories in wod very much. Legion's was well done as well (even if the constant deaths of characters upset a lot of people hehe). But once they bring the godlike entities into the picture, it comes with a lot of random plot holes. We don't have to have godlike entities to keep the story interesting. Supposed minor villians are just as good, potentially better since you can give them more story to work with that won't end with them being overpowered. Vancleef is a classic example. Almost took out stormwind and he was just a guy. Guldan is another. Incredibly powerful, but he had weaknesses that made the back and forth between him and the player character (at least, to me) feel interesting (honestly, I felt that he was handled the way Arthas should've been done during wotlk. Both had a major presence as you quested. Arthas would just monologue and walk away though, whereas guldan felt more involved. And I really liked that, he felt powerful but not overly so. A solid antagonist for the player). They weren't just "I'm a god so you die now unless you somehow don't".

Not upset about medan being gone though. his concept wasn't bad, but the way he was created...well, he was one of those overly large characters that bring with him a ton of plot holes. Thrall became like that during cata after all, and he had to be retroactively fixed with a bandage "the elements won't listen to be after draenor's events" (which is sloppy storytelling, but it beats the alternative of keeping him godlike). Perhaps they can bring back a similar concept in the future, but not so "overpowered". That's not fun storytelling.